Do You Know HK's 3 Rainstorm Warning Color Levels?
A typhoon last week, a lot of rain this week. Feris turns 9. My memoir's desire line.
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Moments of the Week (Sep 4-10)
HK has a 3-tier rainstorm warning system: Amber (>30 mm/hour) Red (>50 mm/hour) Black (>70 mm hour). Black is uncommon and the last time was issued two years ago (October 2021). The black rain started at 11pm Thursday and continued till the early afternoon the next day, relentless for 12+ hours. It was the most rain in 140 years - flooded MTR stations, caved-in roads, and waterfalls and rivers bursting. School was cancelled and we stayed in to watch the Barbie movie and then Mad Max Fury Road.
10 straight aces, a dome, and a dump. That’s what Jero claims about his individual game performance this week. We weren't there to witness it and all video was deleted so we will have to take his word.
Hauling rice uphill no more. Curious Lea has been reading the ads and noticed the free Marketplace shipping option. Easy as click click ship. Why haven’t I done this sooner?
Living like we are running out of time. Booked Taiwan (CNY ‘24) and South Africa (Spring ‘24). Have any recommendations for either?
Feris turned the big 9 on September 9. She was spoiled with ice cream all week, Epicland (indoor adventure park) on Saturday, and added to her weird sock collection with a sunny side egg to go with her red peppers.
Thinking Out Loud
Who is Feris Malaya?
(These are excerpts that we each shared with her...)
Feris loves boba. When we did potty training, we did the bare bottom method. For three days, Feris was naked from the waist down during the day time and she was restricted to stay in the hardwood or tiled areas in our house. By being bare bottom, kids then are more aware when they need to use the toilet so that they don't pee/poo on themselves. Feris' reward was T4 boba. It worked. (Maricar)
Feris HATES bananas with brown spots. She's very particular about her banana ripeness. Has to be borderline green but edible. You can't smush the top when you open it, or else she'll make you eat the top, and you already know that she'll feed you the bottom end. We've had many tears over brown bananas. (Maricar)
She can make anyone laugh and put a smile on their face, no matter how low they are feeling. She has a strange obsession for infinity pencils, and loves the Koala that I got her for Christmas in Rome. As for things she hates, she isn't the biggest fan of Shin Ramen because it is pretty spicy. (Jero)
Feris loves rereading her favorite books. Every day for two weeks, she would switch off between The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes. In Japan, during all the Shinkansen rides and waiting, she read Beauty and the Beast again and again. Behind Maricar's back, she used limited packing space to bring The War that Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won on our 3,000 mile Australian road trip. Why? She knows what she likes and gets comfort from a good familiar reread. (James)
And, Lea speaks in pictures.
I’m Writing a Memoir
I’ve got a lot of the raw ideas on paper and have put together a draft or two. This week, I went back to the outline and my “desire line” to make sure I have a story worth reading.
Lara’s Naked, Drunk and Writing, has become my Bible. Why recreate the wheel when there is a memoir playbook? I wish I picked it up sooner.
A memoir is the book-length story of how you desperately wanted something, how you went about getting it, and what you found about yourself along the way.
What did I want?
I wanted to spend more time together as a family and create memorable experiences before my kids grew up.
It’s simple, but with this in place, I can structure a memoir that answers questions like:
What were my motives for wanting that?
How will I show the readers I wanted it?
What actions did my desire set in motion?
What stood in the way of achieving it?
What happens in the end?
On The Move
Run With Me on Strava - 68.52 mi, 8,422 ft Elevation
Group Workouts:
(Tuesday) Headland Hell Hill repeats. These are hard. Nearly 3 minutes of a rolling climb. The on and off, short, but steep rollers milk everything out of you.
(Thursday) 1600s served 3 ways; Code name Vanilla, Mango and Durian. The variety keeps the body guessing. With the max humidity and only 90 second recovery, this got hard quickly. Planned on 6 sets, did 5, but faded progressively after the first. I forced it. My tell is my neck and shoulder starts to hurt from terrible running form.
Squeezed in a solo hump day trail run to Tung Chung. The elevation and steps are always brutal.
I was planning on a big weekend trail run, but with all the rain, I played it safe. To make up for it, I put in extra road miles and elevation going up Golf Course Road a few times.
Do you do Strides? Read up on what they are, and why and how to do them here.
I threw 8 of them into my easy Sunday run and they felt great.
Love the memoir insights. Keep those coming.
Happy birthday Feris!